Containers with interfitted cleats



Dec. 2, 1969 J. SLAYMAN CONTAINERS WITH INTERFITTED C LEATS 2 SheetsSheet l H R8 MITCHELL J. SLAYMAN y m/wmrm MvfM Filed June 27, 1968 Dec. 2, 1969 J. SLAYMAN 3,431,502

CONTAINERS WITH INTERFITTED CLEATS Filed June 27, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 66 FW I I'm wlq MITCHELL J. SLAYMA/V //v1 /v roe A TTORNEKS' US. Cl. 21742 United States Patent O ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The combination of containers with interfitted cleats, the containers being stacked and having opposite ends in substantial vertical alignment to which upwardly and downwardly disposed cleats are aflixed respectively above and below the same. The upwardly disposed cleats engage the downwardly disposed cleats of the container immediately thereabove and support substantially all the Weight thereof. The engaging cleats have interfitted or interlocking formations resistive to longitudinal and transverse shifting of the containers from the stack.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to containers of the type disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,255,513, and more particularly to containers with end cleats on which are formed to interfit or interlock with end cleats on other containers for vertically stacking the containers to afford improved protection for the contents of the containers by resisting longitudinal and transverse shifting of the containers from the stack.

Fruit boxes are conventionally constructed of wood with end walls of substantial thickness to which relatively thin slats or shakes forming bottom and sides for the box are secured. After packing the box with fruit, a lid, also made up of thin slats or shakes, is secured to the end walls with the lid under arched compression. The end cleats are secured above and below the end Walls and serve not only to transmit vertical loads when the boxes are stacked but also to space the top of one box from the bottom of the box directly above to avoid subjecting the packed fruit to a crushing pressure and to provide for the circulation of air around the box. It is important that the boxes be dependably retained in stacked relation to avoid damage thereto incident to shifting and that such spacing be maintained under all conditions during refrigeration, storage and transport. The maintenance of this spacing in the face of situations where the boxes are subjected to endwise or lateral forces causing disengagement between the respective end cleats is very diflicult employing conventional cleats. Although the aforementioned patent attempts to prevent endward shifting of the fruit boxes, there is no solution disclosed for preventing relative lateral shifting of the boxes and so such problem still remains.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide containers with cleats which resist longitudinal and transverse shifting of the containers relative to each other when stacked.

Another object is to provide interfitting portions on the cleats which operate in a facile and reliable manner to resist endwise and lateral shifting of the containers relative to each other.

Another object is to provide cleats with interfitted formations or interlocking portions of simple and economical construction.

These and other objects and advantages are achieved by constructing containers with top and bottom end cleats, the top cleat having projections which interfit or mate with projections on the bottom cleat of another container for 3,481,502 Patented Dec. 2, 1969 interlocking the cleats to prevent endwise and lateral shifting of the containers when the projections are mated. In one form, the projections are constituted by teeth or serrations in conjunction with abutting shoulders. In another form, serrations are associated with a tongue and groove construction. In still another form, the projections are defined by short stubby fingers or protuberances of convergent construction arranged in rows, with a finger on one cleat adapted to be received in the space defined by adjacent pairs of fingers on another cleat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a container showing top and bottom end cleats in accordance with the present invention attached thereto.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view further illustrating structural features of the cleats.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary end elevation showing top and bottom cleats of different containers preparatory to mating the cleats.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a container showing a pair of end cleats of modified form.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a bottom cleat of the modified form illustrating structural features thereof.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary end elevation of the modified top and bottom cleats shown on different containers and illustrating the manner of mating the cleats.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of a further form of cleat in accordance with the present invention which utilizes short projections, the dotted lines illustrating the relation thereto of interfitting projections on another cleat.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary plan view of a cleat adapted for interfitting with the cleat shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged end elevation of the cleats of FIGS. 7 and 8 showing the disposition of the same prior to interfitting.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary vertical section of the cleats of FIG. 9 illustrating the interfitting relation of the projections along line 10-10 of FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS I First form Referring to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a perspective of a container 20 viewed from above. The container is of conventional type ordinarily constructed of wood with end walls 22 of substantial thickness, to which are secured relatively thin slats or shakes constituting a bottom 24, sides 26 and top 28 for the container. Secured to the container in general vertical alignment with the end walls 22 are end cleats 30b and 30t embodying the principles of the present invention. As will later appear, each bottom cleat 30b is adapted to cooperate with a top cleat 30t on another container to prevent relative movement therebetween.

Each bottom cleat 30b is generally of parallelepiped shape and has serrations or teeth 32 defining inverted valleys and crests extending transversely of the cleat along its entire length from one edge to approximately midway thereof, best seen in FIG. 2. The other half of the cleat has a flat surface 34 which constitutes the downwardly facing bottom of a tongue portion 36.

The top cleat 30t is formed in a complementary fashion. As best seen in FIG. 1, the cleat 30t has serrations or teeth 38 formed the length of the cleat with valleys and crests which extend transversely of the cleat from its inner edge to about midway thereof. The other half of the cleat has a longitudinal cut or notch 40 which provides a flat surface 42 slightly below the crests of the serrations 38 and thereby forms an abutting surface or shoulder 44 extending the length of the cleat.

The cleats can be formed in any convenient manner. For example, the cleats can be pressed or stamped by a die of suitable shape to indent the serrations therein. Or the surfaces can be configured by conventional cutting operations. The stamping procedure is preferred as being faster and cheaper and compacting the wood so that even the serrations are capable of bearing loads without undue deformation. The indentations need not be formed precisely. It is only necessary to deform the fiat surfaces sufficiently to form a plurality of abutting surfaces which resist relative movement transversely thereof. It is also preferred, in the case of the bottom cleats, that the crests of the serrations 32 be indented relative to the flat surface 34 so that the tongue portions 36 take the load when the box is on a planar supporting surface, such as a floor and the like.

OPERATION The operation of the cleats of the present invention is believed to be clearly apparent and is briefly summarized at this point. Referring to FIG. 3, when the containers are to be stacked vertically, the bottom cleats 30b of the upper container are disposed over the top cleats 301? of the lower container so that the surfaces 34 and 42 are in facing relation and generally vertically aligned. This also disposes the serrations 32 and 38 in general vertical alignment. The upper container is then lowered, moving it slightly as necessary, until the serrations are in mating or interfitting relation. With such disposition, the inner edges of the tongue portions 36 are in engagement with the shoulders 44. This serves to prevent endwise or longitudinal shifting of the containers relative to each other. The interfitted serrations prevent lateral or transverse shifting of the containers. Accordingly, the cleats cooperate to prevent end-wise and lateral shifting of the containers relative to each other and maintain the containers in the desired vertically stacked relation.

Second form Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a container 20 equipped with a bottom cleat 50b and a top cleat 50t. Better seen in FIG. 5, the bottom cleat 50b is formed with a longitudinal groove 52 facing downwardly and has longitudinal rows of transverse serrations or teeth 54 to each side of the groove, the groove and the serrations extending the length of the cleat. The top cleat 50t is shaped in a complementary fashion with longitudinal rows of serrations or teeth and a centrally disposed longitudinal tongue portion 58. Preferably, the crests of the serrations are indented slightly below the top of the tongue portion.

In operation, the bottom cleats of one container are adapted to be disposed over the top cleats of another container to relate such bottom and top cleats as shown in FIG. 6. The upper container is then lowered to dispose the tongue and groove and the associated serrations in mating or interfitting relation from which it is readily apparent that endwise and lateral shifting of the boxes relative to each is effectively resisted.

Third form There is shown in FIG. 7 a cleat 60b adapted to cooperate with a cleat 60t, shown in FIG. 8. The cleat 60t is formed with a plurality of projections 62 adapted to be related to the cleat 60b, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 7. The projections take the form of short frustoconical fingers or protuberances which are outwardly tapered, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. As seen in FIG. 8, the projections 62 are arranged in rows 64 running lengthwise of the cleat 601, which rows are uniformly spaced transversely of the cleat. The projections in each row 64 are similarly uniformly spaced and disposed with respect to projections in the other lengthwise rows to be transversely aligned therewith. With such an arrangement of the projections, adjacent pairs of the projections 62 define areas or spaces 66 with four substantially equal sides.

The cleat 601; also has projections 68 which are similar to projections 62 uniformly spaced in lengthwise rows 70 which are similarly uniformly spaced transversely of the cleat. The projections 68 in the rows 70 are also aligned transversely to define four-sided areas or spaces 72 which are similarly dimensioned as the spaces 66. Thus, when the cleat 60b is disposed over the cleat 60t, as shown in FIG. 9, the projections 62 can be received in the spaces 72 and the projections 68 can be received in the spaces 66 for intermeshing the projections and interfitting the cleats. To accomplish this relationship, the projections 62 are offset lengthwise of its cleat 60t as will be appreciated from a viewing of FIGS. 7 and 8.

The projections 62 and 68 can be formed in any convenient manner as by stamping, pressing, routing, or the like. Such operations need not be extremely precise. It is enough that the finished surfaces have a sufiicient number of abutting surfaces disposed in various directions to resist horizontal movement in all directions. However, stamping or pressing is preferred since the Wood is compacted and the projections are made button-like so as to support loads on a planar surface with substantially no or very little deformation.

In operation, with cleat 601 secured to the top of a container and a cleat 60b secured to the bottom of a container which is to be stacked on the first container, the second container is manipulated so as to dispose the cleat 60b generally vertically aligned with the first container and the projections 68 disposed with respect to the projections 62 generally as shown in FIG. 9. The second container is then lowered and moved slightly as necessary to cause the projections 62 to be received in the spaces 72 and the projections 68 to be received in the spaces 66. This results in an intermeshing of the projections, as shown in FIG. 10, and interfits the cleats against relative endwise and lateral movement.

There has thus been provided cooperating cleats which are of simple and economical construction and which are very effective and reliable in resisting endwise and lateral shifting of vertically stacked containers.

Although the invention has been herein shown and described in what are conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a stack of superimposed containers having opposite ends in substantially vertical alignment, upwardly and downwardly disposed cleats affixed to the containers above and below their respective ends, the upwardly disposed cleats of the containers engaging the downwardly disposed cleats of the containers immediately thereabove and supporting substantially all of the weight thereof, and the engaging cleats having interfitted formations including a tongue and groove construction located substantially midway of the cleats and serrations located at the sides of said construction, whereby relative longitudinal and transverse shifting of the containers .from the stack is resisted.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,112,943 8/1914 StOne 220-97 2,255,513 9/1941 Pfeffer 21742 2,849,151 8/1958 Heil 220-97 3,371,816 3/1968 Ricci 220-97 X RAPHAEL H. SCHWARTZ, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 22097 

